African Design Magazine February 2017 | Page 46

46 africandesignmagazine . com

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Aurecon , a global engineering consultant , has been awarded a 5-Star Green Star SA Office v1 Design rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa ( GBCSA ) for the company ’ s second office building in Century City , Cape Town , Aurecon West . Aurecon ’ s earlier premises in Century City ( Aurecon East ) were completed in 2011 and achieved the distinction of being the first 5-Star Green Star SA rated building in South Africa . African Design Magazine put some questions to Sheldon Jennings of the architects involved , MaC Architects .
Can you give us a short background on the practice ? MaC Architects , situated in Century City , Cape Town , was established in 1994 by company directors Denis Maas and Wim Coetzee . Members of the Green Building Council 2016 , MaC Architects was responsible for South Africa ’ s first ever five star ‘ Green Star ’ building ( Aurecon East at Century City ). Over the past twenty-two years , MaC Architects has produced major office developments , apartment complexes , warehousing / factories with related office components , housing estates , golf estates , Private Jet and Helicopter terminals and Hotels ( in South Africa and Nigeria ). At the same time , MaC Architects also create highend individual homes which are tailored to each client ’ s specific tastes and needs .
What was the brief ? It was to target a 5-Star design rating ( which was achieved ), along with creating a link bridge to connect the new Aurecon West to Aurecon East . There had to be provision for the company ’ s continuing growth in the Cape region , comprising 4 700m ² of premium office space on three levels together with 3 200m ² of parking space on two levels , being occupied in stages .
What was the site formerly ? The property was formerly a Greenfield site which was used intermittently as an informal parking lot .
What would you say is the most noticeable feature of the building ? The power efficiency that Aurecon achieved for the Phase 1 building had a spin-off for Phase 2 . With efficiency far exceeding expectations and the consequent reduced requirement for back-up power , it was possible for one of the two back-up generator sets to be relocated to the Phase 2 project . Another interesting development was in the approach used for water conservation and management . Instead of the rainwater